Eden Apothecary · Herb Profile
Grindelia robusta
Also known as Gumweed
Pronounced Grindelia: grin-DEE-lee-uh. Gumweed: GUM-weed. Grindelia robusta: grin-DEE-lee-uh roh-BUST-uh.
Warm and drying: a resinous, pungent-bitter antispasmodic expectorant that relaxes bronchial spasm and dries the boggy, congested, cold-damp lung.
Avoid; insufficient data. Grindelia has no established safety record in pregnancy: there are no adequate human or animal reproductive studies, and both the AHPA Botanical Safety Handbook approach for insufficiently-studied botanicals and the modern European monographs (ESCOP, German Commission E) default to avoidance in the absence of data. Grindelia is additionally a documented renal irritant in larger doses, which further argues against use in pregnancy. It is not a classical emmenagogue or abortifacient, so the concern is lack of data plus the renal-irritant potential rather than a proven uterine action. (AHPA Botanical Safety Handbook, 2nd ed.; ESCOP Grindeliae herba monograph.)
Avoid; insufficient data. No lactation-safety studies exist for Grindelia, and the resinous diterpene acids have not been characterised for transfer into milk. In the absence of data the prudent course, consistent with the AHPA Botanical Safety Handbook approach and the ESCOP and Commission E monographs, is to avoid internal use while breastfeeding and prefer better-studied respiratory herbs. (AHPA Botanical Safety Handbook, 2nd ed.; ESCOP Grindeliae herba.)
Use only in low, short courses under qualified supervision, and avoid large doses. Eclectic physicians did give small pediatric doses of grindelia for whooping cough and spasmodic bronchial cough (King's American Dispensatory lists reduced children's doses of the fluid extract and specific medicine), so there is a traditional pediatric use, but modern references provide no formal pediatric safety data. Because large doses irritate the kidneys and can depress the heart and respiration, keep to small, short-term, professionally guided dosing and avoid in infants. (King's American Dispensatory 1898 for the historical pediatric dose; modern pediatric safety data lacking, AHPA Botanical Safety Handbook.)
Grindelia is a resinous herb (the sticky flower heads carry up to roughly a third resin, rich in grindelic and other diterpene acids). In large doses it irritates the kidneys, which is the basis of its diuretic effect, and it depresses the heart and respiration, so large or prolonged internal doses should be avoided, especially in cardiac or renal disease. It can cause gastric upset or loose stools in sensitive people. As a member of the Asteraceae (daisy) family it can provoke allergic reactions and contact dermatitis in Compositae-sensitive individuals, an irony given its topical use for poison-oak rash. Grindelia species also accumulate selenium and heavy metals from the soil, so harvest only from clean ground and avoid roadside or contaminated sites.
Large or prolonged internal doses (renal irritation, cardiac and respiratory depression). Pre-existing kidney disease, and cardiac disease or marked hypotension. Pregnancy and lactation (insufficient data). Known Asteraceae/Compositae allergy. Avoid material wild-harvested from selenium-rich or contaminated soils.
Grindelia robusta and its relatives are hardy, weedy, drought-tolerant natives of open ground, roadsides, and disturbed soils across the western United States and Mexico, common and not threatened, and not listed by United Plant Savers. It is easily wild-harvested or cultivated. Because Grindelia accumulates selenium and heavy metals from the soil, harvest only from clean, uncontaminated ground, well away from roadsides and industrial sites, both for the plant's sake and the user's safety.
Not named in the canonical biblical texts and not a Mediterranean plant. Grindelia is a North American native of the western United States and Mexico, taken into Eclectic and later European practice from Indigenous North American use for bronchial and skin complaints. Its tradition of origin is Native American and Eclectic-American, not biblical.
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